10 OregonStater.org KAI CASEY VO I C E S ↑ President Murthy celebrating the Class of 2026 at this June’s commencement. Follow her on LinkedIn. ON A ROLL PRESIDENT JAYATHI MURTHY ON TURNING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES IN TURBULENT TIMES. As told to Scholle McFarland The National Science Foundation just announced that an OSU consortium will receive $160 million to advance semiconductor design, manufacturing and workforce training. How big of a deal is this, and what does it say about OSU’s role in the state’s future? It’s a big deal. We are the largest university in Oregon. We are its land-grant university. This underlines the role that we play across the state of Oregon.We not only educate new generations of Oregonians, but also drive discovery and the translation of discovery into useful work. This is exactly what we want to be doing — bringing federal dollars to Oregon and using those dollars to create prosperity for Oregonians. Fifteen percent of our nation’s workforce in semiconductors already sits right here in Oregon. The FAST grant will help us grow and modernize that workforce. So it’s a big transformation. We estimate that this effort will add 25,000 new jobs to the region and 180 new startups over the next decade. OSU and our academic partners believe that we can add 4,000 graduates a year to the workforce by the end of this project. We’re planning to do some very big things. [Editor’s note: Learn more about FAST on page 14.] This news comes during a time of major milestones, including the upcoming opening of the JenHsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex. Do you see OSU entering a new era? The Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex will be the heart of artificial intelligence at OSU and at the heart of AI across Oregon.We’ve been thinking about what’s special about AI in Oregon and what’s special about AI at OSU. And I will tell you that the confluence of AI plus everything Oregon is what’s gotten us excited. It’s AI and agriculture, AI and farming, AI and forestry, AI and oceans and rivers, and of course all the other things that OSU does so well.AI and robotics, for example. We’re thinking about how we can create these verticals in the Huang Complex and about the role that OSU can play in bringing constructive use of AI to Oregon. How can we be at the heart of understanding where AI can be helpful? How can we support its use in constructive and useful ways? What may seem unrelated, but which is related in all kinds of interesting ways, is that we’ve also just hired Kevin Griffin from Ohio State to be our new athletics director. He brings dedication to student- athletes, real expertise in revenue generation, strategic communication and branding, which are all going to be key to another new era for
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